RESEARCH

I research linguistic geography and dialectology, with a focus on language contact, migration, and history.

 

Lesser-documented languages are at a natural disadvantage in the field of historical linguistics, but language is a fundamental underpinning of human social systems nonetheless. My research is consequently centered on the acquisition and analysis of peripheral historical, demographic, economic, and social data to better investigate lesser-documented languages and language varieties.

 

Oklahoma is a region with a complicated and formative settlement history, and dialectology is one way of analyzing this aspect of the state. As such, my past work has described the perceptions of English usage in Oklahoma as it relates to wealth, geography, and race.

I am also engaged in language revitalization, endangered language acquisition, and language reclamation research. I am an enrolled member of The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, a student of the language, and an advocate for its revitalization and preservation.